Impact of digital self-scheduling on operations management and patient experience in hospital outpatient settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Impact of digital self-scheduling on operations management and patient experience in hospital outpatient settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review Impact of digital self-scheduling on operations management and patient experience in hospital outpatient settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis Miao Zheng, Teng Li, Hongqian Wang, Hongling Zhong, Haizhou Zhou, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4243854/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Digital self-scheduling (DSS) adopted for outpatient appointment system improves efficiency and quality of services, but how it contributes to improving outpatient care delivery in hospital settings remains unverified. To evaluate the impact of DSS on operations management and patient experience in hospital outpatient services. Studies published in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, EBSCO, Science Direct, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore were searched up to June 2022. Studies describe DSS intervention for accessing outpatient services in hospital settings, analysing its effectiveness on operations management or patient experience compared with traditional scheduling methods/or not intervention, were included. PRISMA and SWiM guidelines were used to report the study. The ROBINS-I and GRADE criteria were used for rating risk of bias and quality of evidence. Meta-analysis was conducted for combinable results from at least two studies, performed by RevMan 5.4. A total of 18 observational studies were included. Compared with conventional methods, DSS resulted in lower no-show rates (OR = 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57–0.85, p < 0.001), increased scheduling efficiency (OR = 4.94, 95% CI: 4.54–5.38, p < 0.001), and improved patient satisfaction (OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 2.20–3.64, p < 0.001). Younger age (MD -9.07, 95%CI: -14.75 to -3.38, p = 0.002) and higher education (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.80–0.91, p < 0.001) were observed in DSS population. Patient acceptance of DSS increased alongside the advancement of digital technologies and dominated by the ease of use. This study suggested the use of DSS for improving hospital outpatient services, but there is insufficient evidence for waiting time and other outcomes of outpatient operations, so future research is warranted. Appointments and Schedules Digital Technology Internet-Based Intervention Operational efficiency Patient experience Patient Satisfaction Outpatient services Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files supplementalfiles.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4243854","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":307733300,"identity":"a1732213-30ce-4e24-b53c-f2ca76377f52","order_by":0,"name":"Miao Zheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Miao","middleName":"","lastName":"Zheng","suffix":""},{"id":307733301,"identity":"27e29312-ef38-4f11-b86a-3f84d14e5a89","order_by":1,"name":"Teng Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chongqing City Hospital of Traditional Chinese 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Patient experience, Patient Satisfaction, Outpatient services","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4243854/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4243854/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e Digital self-scheduling (DSS) adopted for outpatient appointment system improves efficiency and quality of services, but how it contributes to improving outpatient care delivery in hospital settings remains unverified. To evaluate the impact of DSS on operations management and patient experience in hospital outpatient services. Studies published in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, EBSCO, Science Direct, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore were searched up to June 2022. Studies describe DSS intervention for accessing outpatient services in hospital settings, analysing its effectiveness on operations management or patient experience compared with traditional scheduling methods/or not intervention, were included. PRISMA and SWiM guidelines were used to report the study. The ROBINS-I and GRADE criteria were used for rating risk of bias and quality of evidence. Meta-analysis was conducted for combinable results from at least two studies, performed by RevMan 5.4. A total of 18 observational studies were included. Compared with conventional methods, DSS resulted in lower no-show rates (OR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57\u0026ndash;0.85, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), increased scheduling efficiency (OR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4.94, 95% CI: 4.54\u0026ndash;5.38, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001), and improved patient satisfaction (OR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2.83, 95% CI: 2.20\u0026ndash;3.64, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). Younger age (MD -9.07, 95%CI: -14.75 to -3.38, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.002) and higher education (OR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.85, 95% CI: 0.80\u0026ndash;0.91, p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) were observed in DSS population. Patient acceptance of DSS increased alongside the advancement of digital technologies and dominated by the ease of use. This study suggested the use of DSS for improving hospital outpatient services, but there is insufficient evidence for waiting time and other outcomes of outpatient operations, so future research is warranted.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Impact of digital self-scheduling on operations management and patient experience in hospital outpatient settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-06-07 00:32:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4243854/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b35ecddb-893e-471d-ae5a-9ee4421cd550","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 7th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-05-02T02:38:26+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-06-07 00:32:49","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4243854","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4243854","identity":"rs-4243854","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}